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Switching car insurance will save money through any insurance company

Despite the wisdom of animated geckos on television, one can save money switching car insurance to almost any company. Photo Credit: Ltshears/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA

We’ve all seen television commercials and magazine inserts claiming that car insurance from some company will “save money.” It is true that one can save money switching car insurance companies, but it goes for more than just GEICO.

Cartoon gecko isn’t entirely forthcoming on switching car insurance

GEICO sure has some funny commercials. They have that lovely animated gecko with an English accent and others where a caveman takes umbrage at something. They also say that a person can save “up to 15 percent” by switching car insurance providers to GEICO. The phrase “up to” is kind of the key; it basically means a person could potentially do so, but they might also not save a dime. They could even pay more.

Of course, the idea is that the humorous ads will gain the public’s trust by making them laugh a bit.

Even Allstate got into the act, where actor Dennis Haysbert advises that switching to that company will save $473 if they switch to Allstate from GEICO and $396 from anywhere else. What he and the animated gecko won’t tell you, according to CBS, is that it applies to any car insurance company.

Customer loyalty great for everyone except the customer

Having to make car payments is bad enough, but one would expect that years of diligently paying insurance premiums would earn a person a break. However, according to Time magazine, loyalty is more likely to cause a person to take a hit in the wallet.

A study by the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel found that 60 percent of respondents didn’t or rarely shopped around for car insurance. The TOPIC also found the average person who had been with their insurer eight or nine years could save 19 percent, or $194 per year, by switching carriers.

Also, according to AOL Autos, the savings aren’t always an apples-to-apples comparison. Many times, the savings are harder to realize if just switching auto insurance. Often enough, the largest savings are only when bundling insurance coverage. In other words, if one is insuring multiple cars or bundling home and car insurance, that’s where the savings come from.

Gonna have to shop around

Insurance is one of the many headaches one has to endure as part of car ownership. On top of worrying about car loan default and staying up with payments, gas and maintenance, there’s also the insurance company to deal with.

One doesn’t necessarily have to switch car insurance companies constantly in order to save money, but one does have to do some shopping around. Also, not every policy is the same; one plan from one company might not offer as much coverage as one from another. The consumer will unfortunately do some homework in order to find where to get the best dealer. Don’t be afraid to switch, though. One shouldn’t pay more than they have to for anything.